Drshika Asher

Home Institution
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year Participated
2021

Year in School
Undergraduate

REU Faculty Mentor
Eshwar Chandrashekaran

Research Area Interest
Interactive Computing

Project Title
Moderation on Audio-Based Social Platforms

Biography & Research Abstract

Abstract:

The way moderation research is approached very rarely focuses on the types of features or affordances a specific platform has. Audio Based Social Media Platforms (ABSPs) like Spotify Greenroom, Clubhouse and Twitter Spaces all have different approaches to the voice conversation medium, pointing to a need for a framework that helps to identify key differences between each platform. My grad student mentor developed an analytical framework fulfilling this need, for understanding moderation on ABSPs. This framework, MIC, helps represent the differences between platforms and identify what specific parts of the platform pose challenges for moderators. Additionally, it tells us about the relationships these affordances have with each other within the platform as well as outside of the platform. I’ve started investigating the intricacies of Twitter Spaces and how different niches on Twitter like Crypto Twitter or Music Twitter use spaces differently.

Bio:

Drshika is a freshman at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign majoring in Computer Science. Her research interests are human-computer interaction, in particular social spaces and learning environments, as well as data driven discovery. This summer, she REU'd with the SCUBA lab under the instruction of PI: Eshwar Chandrashekaran and Graduate Mentor Tanvi Bajpai. During high school, she wrote her first research paper on alternative learning methods like gamified microfluidics on learning outcomes amongst middle school students learning advanced topics in chemistry. She is one of the Content Chairs for Reflections | Projections, a member of the HackIllinois Outreach Team and ACM Social Committee as a Social Media manager. She was born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago. Outside of CS, Drshika is a classically trained singer and Indian Classical Dancer (Kathak and Bharatanatyam).